Victim: Man ran from home after finding her hiding place

It took a Bedford County jury less than 15 minutes to convict a Murfreesboro man of breaking into a home last February while a terrified teen hid under a bed.

Larry Randall Henry II of Crater Road, Murfreesboro had a sentencing date set for March 19 by Circuit Court Judge Lee Russell after the jury returned a verdict of guilty on the charge of aggravated burglary.

Defense attorneys claimed that Henry's stepfather, Rick Evans of Murfreesboro, could provide a solid alibi for him, but a recording of a jailhouse phone call revealed Evans may have tried to fabricate another alibi for his stepson several days after the break-in occurred.

The break-in occurred on Unionville-Deason Road, where the 13-year-old granddaughter of Jerry and Michele Crews was living at the time, late on the morning of Feb. 20.

The teen, now 14, testified that she was home sick from school and that her grandparents had left to run errands, leaving her alone for a brief time.

She told jurors that someone knocked at the front door and since her grandmother frequently received packages, she thought that it may have been a delivery truck.

Instead, she saw a maroon Ford Explorer and the person began walking around the house, checking the doors. Soon after, Henry forced his way into the home through the kitchen door that led to the garage.

The terrified girl ran to her grandparents' room and hid under the bed while hearing Henry go through drawers and closets throughout the house.

Suspect identified

Henry then entered the bedroom the teen was hiding in and it was the family dog sniffing around the bed that alerted Henry that someone might be concealed in the room.

Henry leaned down, pulled aside the bedding and the frightened girl and the man who broke into the home faced each other. The girl then pointed Henry out as the man she saw to the jury.

After the two saw each other, the girl said that Henry quickly left the home, but took nothing.

Under cross examination by public defender Jack Dearing, the teen said the room was somewhat dark and that she only saw Henry for two seconds, but when Dearing asked if she believed Henry might be the man who broke in, she told Dearing, "No, it IS him."

Detective Brian Farris of the Bedford County Sheriff's Department testified about his investigation into the break-in, saying that there had been a series of burglaries in the northern part of the county that day and that he had a hunch that the suspect might be from Rutherford County.

The teen had already looked at over 130 mug shots of suspects who fit her description, but could not identify the suspect. But after contacting Murfreesboro Police and giving a description of the suspect, they gave Farris a copy of Henry's mug shot.

Two days after the break-in, Farris showed the girl Henry's photo, along with that of five other people and the girl picked out Henry as the man she saw.

Farris and other detectives went to Henry's house later that day and when they arrived, they noticed a maroon Ford Explorer in the driveway. After running a check on the tag number, the vehicle was identified as belonging to Henry.

Henry was picked up two days later by Rutherford County authorities and transferred to Bedford County.

Under cross-examination by defense attorney Stephanie Barca, question were raised about the make up of the photo lineup that Farris showed the teen, asking if Henry's image was made to "stand out" apart from the others.

Which alibi?

After the state rested its case, Dearing brought Henry's stepfather, Rick Evans, to the stand, who testified that his stepson could not have committed the break-in since he was in Murfreesboro for most of the day helping him do work around the house.

Evans testified that Henry was with him nearly the entire day, with the exception of a 20-minute time frame when Henry drove to a local bait shop.

Dearing had also asked Evans before the trial to drive from his house in Murfreesboro to the home where the break-in occurred and to time how long it would take. Evans said it would be around an hour round trip.

However, under cross examination by assistant district attorney Mike Randles, it was revealed that Evans had apparently come up with another alibi for his stepson.

On Feb. 26, the day Henry was arrested, he called his wife Spring Henry to arrange for bail. Randles asked Evans if he had told bondsman James Richardson that Henry could not have committed the break-in because he was welding in Knoxville and had time cards to prove it.

Evans denied this claim, but then Randles revealed all jailhouse phone calls are recorded and that Evans could clearly be heard in the background of the phone call telling Richardson of this alibi.

Evans also denied saying this.

The jury was then excused and Randles played the recording, in which Evans not only said this to Richardson, but was also heard telling Henry that the teen had only been shown one photo and that he could not have committed the break-in because he was in Knoxville.

Dearing claimed that Evans may have been speaking of a time in December 2008 when Henry was in Knoxville and after a sidebar with Judge Russell, the jury was brought back in.

Under further cross examination, Evans admitted that it was his voice on the recording and that he did make those statements about Henry being in Knoxville, but stated he was talking about a different time period, not the date the break-in occurred.

Evans also could not recall when exactly Henry would have been in Knoxville, but said it could have been in either December 2008 or January 2009.

Following this testimony, the defense rested its case.

DA Randles stated in his closing arguments that the teen never wavered in her description of Henry, but that his stepfather gave two different alibis and neither one of them could be believed.

Barca stated that the issue in the case was that the teen could not clearly see who broke into the home and that the jurors made sure that the right person went to jail.

Following Russell giving the jurors their instructions, they took a break and swiftly found Henry guilty.

Henry also faces charges related to his escape from custody in November, following a court appearance before Russell. However, that matter is still making its way through General Sessions Court.